ARKADELPHIA – An offensive surge by East Central in the third period proved to be the difference in the game as the orange Tigers came back to beat Ouachita 64-56 on Saturday afternoon in Great American Conference women's basketball action.

The purple Tigers held a five-point lead of 27-22 at the halftime break after holding ECU to 28 percent shooting in the first two periods. However, the other rim favored ECU with the orange Tigers knocking down 10-of-13 shots in the third period to double up Ouachita in the period and take a seven-point lead into the fourth.

Ouachita nearly matched ECU in the fourth at 18-17, but the purple Tigers were only able to cut the deficit down to eight on two different occasions in the final 10 minutes.

Madeleine Tipton led the purple Tigers with 19 points and also led in rebounding with six. Laney Mears added nine points and a team-high four assists.

Ouachita finished at 44 percent shooting overall (20-for-46), 20 percent on three-pointers (2-for-10), and 78 percent on foul shots (14-for-18). ECU shot 45 percent from the field (21-for-47), 53 percent on threes (8-for-15), and 52 percent on foul shots (14-for-27).

Up next for the purple Tigers is the third and final road trip to the state of Oklahoma next week to face Southwestern Oklahoma State on Thursday and Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday.